


Scars on Shell and Mind

by MetatheGamer



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Crown is a bit of a showoff, Other, Pale King is not the best dad, Will add characters when they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-28 02:40:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30132744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MetatheGamer/pseuds/MetatheGamer
Summary: A cycle of friendship and regret.A cycle of fixing and breaking.A cycle of hope and despair.A cycle that wants to be broken.Minds are like shells.They can be broken and cracked.But they heal with time,Leaving scars and marks that won't be forgotten.
Relationships: Pale King and Wing (Hollow Knight), Wing and Crown (Hollow Knight)
Kudos: 1





	1. The Strange Vessel

**Author's Note:**

> Be prepared for headcanons and OCs.
> 
> thoughts are in italics, Void speech is italics in quotation marks, all other text (descriptions, etc.) are normal text unless emphasized.

The vessel looked up at the Pale King. The lighting here was much too bright, and they had to squint to see clearly, but nevertheless they smiled up at their father. 

He pointed to the door of his workshop, leading to the rest of the palace. They would've pouted if they could, if they weren't scared of Father. The small vessel metaphorically sighed and walked out, head hanging. They didn't like being around their siblings, who, despite being around the same age as them, were so much larger, much taller. Not only that, but it seemed like they were strangely small instead of the others being strangely big. If it wasn't for their large Monarch Wings, which always stuck out and partially dragged on the ground, they'd never be able to keep up with them in anything. At least with their wings they could jump much higher than their siblings. 

They came out of Father's workshop and immediately had to jump back as they were nearly trampled by a few of their siblings. They tentatively came out, and dashed into one of their many hiding places. Here, they were safe. Nobody could trample them now. It was darker in here too, so they didn't have to squint. Hiding was nice.


	2. Repurposed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I refer to the vessel who's point of view this story is from as 'small vessel', 'winged vessel', and 'small, winged vessel'.  
> I didn't want anyone to get confused by the multiple things here.

They didn't know what was going on. 

It seemed like a normal day, until them and their siblings were all grouped into one room. They saw Father come in, and all shifting and nervous fidgeting among the gathered siblings stopped. Father walked among their siblings as they all looked up at him, watching him look at the gathered siblings like he was inspecting each and every one of them. For what, they didn't know. Nobody did.

For a moment, he stopped, looking at the small, winged vessel. They tried for a bit of a smile, one that was met with a look of mild disgust. They averted their gaze as Father continued his inspection, wondering what they'd done wrong.

After what seemed like an eternity, Father ordered them all to be taken away. As a Kingsmould reached for the small vessel, he stopped them, saying that he was 'saving the little one for something'. _For what? Did I do something bad?_ They didn't know, and that scared them as Father led them with a firm hand on their shoulder to a small room they'd never seen before. He put them up in a small chair in the center, and they sat there, looking at Father with a mixture of fear and anticipation. "With how much work I put into creating you and putting Void in you, I may as well make you useful." he grumbled as he lifted a hand.

They don't know what happened next. They thought they had fallen asleep and hit their head on something. Maybe they'd fallen over? But when they opened their eyes, they were still in the chair. The Pale King was no longer there. Instead, a Kingsmould waited by the open door, alongside a curious-looking sibling. They tried to remember where they had seen them before as their sibling helped them get down from the chair. _Maybe I just don't recognize them. I did hide a lot, after all._

The next few weeks were a blur of training in the art of combat. Both them and their sibling had been given a training nail made of shellwood with the promise they'd get a real one later on, once their training was comeplete. The winged vessel was excited, not just for learning to fight and protect, but to be with their sibling without fear of being trampled or anything. Over time, the two even gave each other names. From now on, the small, winged vessel was known as Wing to their sibling, and their sibling was Crown to them.

However, things went wrong for Wing right away.

For starters, their nail was about as large as them, and they were hardly able to pick it up, much less swing it around. Fighting with it? Not a chance. Crown easily bested them in sparring, no matter what Wing did. It frustrated them. They wanted to grow up to protect someone, and this was a terrible start.

Secondly, their darn giant wings got in the way. Constantly. Wing tripped over them when dodging backwards, and even accidentally got tangled in them once or twice as the Pale King watched in disappointment. Wing hated that look of disappointment.

Soon, Crown and Wing were taken aside by the Pale King. Wing already knew they were a failure, and couldn't imagine how he would punish them. Suddenly, Crown spoke up. _"Fatherhear!"_ Crown looked quite proud, and the Pale King quite surprised. _"Metoo! See?"_ Wing said, giving Crown a glance to remind their sibling they weren't the only one who knew Void speech.

The Pale King's expression changed to pure disappointment, and both vessels knew they had made a huge mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I prefer to think of the Void speech as less of a collection of thoughts and more like the vessel actually speaking, but for the sake of the fanfic, I'm willing to make an exception for now.  
> Wing will be using more conversation-like Void speech later on.


	3. Fallen

They thought they would fall forever.

The Pale King had thrown Wing and Crown into this hole, clearly to die. Wing was determined to do the exact opposite, trying to flip themself over in the air so they could slow their fall using their wings. Crown however...they were already broken, their will lost the second the Pale King had hissed, "Failures. Both of you." 

Darkness consumed their vision for the first time as they neared the end. Both vessels knew it wouldn't be much longer, and Wing felt Crown reach out and take their hand. They looked at their sibling, and the two exchanged their final goodbyes with their eyes.

 _"I'm sorry fo-"_ Crown's voice was almost lost, left high above as they fell.

**CRACK. CRACK.**

Wing thought they were dead. For a second, they thought they had been destroyed. Their body went numb as they stared at the pinprick of light above, a pinprick that quickly faded. Everything felt unreal, their own body felt separate from them. A shrill sound filled their ears, the only sound they could hear.

After a long moment of lying there in darkness, numbness faded to pure, excruciating pain. They tried to cry out, through Void or anything, but nothing came. Every twitch, every breath sent shock coursing through their body, and Void churned through an empty space in their body, a space that was meant to hold something.

_Crown._

Trying their best to ignore the pain, they turned their head, expecting to see their sibling. They saw a broken shell, a lifeless body pierced by a disembodied horn. Wing felt tears welling in their eyes for the only sibling they truly had known.

Their eyes flicked around, trying to stay away from their sibling as they lay there. The sheer wrongness they felt being there was agonizing. There was no way to escape now, they were trapped.

Or were they?....

Wing heaved themself upright, every inch of their body screaming in pain. They wouldn't be still any longer. They had to get out. 

The small vessel took a step, away from the body of their sibling, and heard a soft crunch. They looked down, and saw they were stepping on the broken shells of their siblings. _Gods..._ They almost quit right there. Almost, though, can be a powerful idea. They took another step, then another, broken horns and shards of white stabbing into their soft shell with every step, but they kept going, wandering aimlessly through the hellhole. There had to be another way, a way to escape. After an eternity of navigating the broken shells of their siblings, they saw it. Another pinprick of light above. A few platforms, hard jumps but probably doable.

Wing broke into a run, then fell, pain shooting through their body. Slowly, they got up again, mind going against the will of their body. Wing was determined to escape. 

The small vessel threw themself upward, their wings flapping to get them to the platform. More pain flared up along their back, and they spread one wing to find fhe source, angry at their body for being like this. _One, two...hold on._ They made sure they were counting right, then spread the other wing, counting the sub-wings there. Two again. _There's three, there should be three._ Craning their neck and spreading their wings as far as they would go, they still couldn't see the third pair. They turned their focus back to the platforms and light ahead. Now wasn't the time to worry about such things.

Wing leaped to the second ledge with all their might, going straight to the next, then the next, propelling themself with flaps of their wings, pure instinct fueling their determination. Finally, a small bit of light shown on their face, and they took one last look at the impaled body of their sibling. _This is for you, Crown._

With that, they began their long climb to freedom.


	4. A Journey's Start

After escaping the hellhole that is the Abyss, Wing didn't know what to do. They were a protector with nothing to protect, nor the skills to do so. Frustrating.

Wing saw the corpse of a bug, next to it was... some kind of nail? They went over and picked up the weapon, looking it over. The strange nail had much longer hilt than the training nail they once had, and there was a small loop of metal on the end. Wing tried a few experimental swings, gripping the weapon with their claw quite close to the blade, and found the weapon was much easier to use than the training nail had been. Wing easily did the slashes and jabs they had struggled with before, despite the weapon being about as large as them. It was quite satisfying, but they knew they should go on. Slinging the weapon awkwardly across their back, they continued their wanderings, determined to get as far away from the Abyss as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters won't really be posted on a regular basis, so check back sometimes.


End file.
